Speaking to Sharri Markson on Sky News Pauline Hanson notoriously said there are no ‘good Muslims.’
Her statement provoked an outcry.
It was an unnecessary, insulting and offensive thing to say.
So, what more, if anything, can we say about her phrase, about this use of language?
There is clearly a great deal of confusion and muddle in the way different people say different things about Islam.
For instance, we can put Albanese’s claims that Islam is a religion of peace beside Pauline Hanson’s comments.
So, let me make a suggestion that might be helpful (I might also be mistaken! But I hope not!)
Think about this possibility: that behind this wide range of opinions is a confusion about what Islam really is.
It is not one thing; it is two things. Islam is BOTH a religion AND a political ideology.
This stems from the founder of Islam, the prophet Mohammad.
He was both a mystic and a warrior (who led armies into battle).
The Koran (much of which is highly poetic) came from his pen, but he also ended up as the powerful ruler of much of the Arabian Peninsula.
This makes him unlike any other founder of a major religion.
It makes him unlike Jesus or Buddha or Confucius.
Until this dual nature of Islam is more widely understood, our society will remain muddled and confused.
It is religious Islam that is based on the Shahada (the declaration that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is his prophet); plus performing the five daily prayers at set times; giving to charity; fasting during Ramadan; and, if possible, making a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once.
On the other hand, the political ideology (also, confusingly, called Islam) calls for Sharia law to be imposed on the whole of society and for the establishment of a caliphate—meaning Islamic political power.
Perhaps (and this is only a suggestion) ‘good Muslims’ (to use Pauline Hanson's phrase) are religious without embracing the hostile political ideology of Islam, while ‘radical Islamists’ are those for whom the hostile demands of Islamic political ideology are more important than anything else.
Does such a distinction make any sense?
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